No World Record—Because Fishermen Ate Shark

Fishing group bestows honor only for sharks that get released

(Newser)
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That monster 805-pound mako shark caught by two cousins in Florida probably is the biggest ever caught from land, but the fishermen won't be getting their names in the record books, reports the Houston Chronicle. The problem is that Joey and Earnie Polk brought the shark home and ate it with 250 of their closest friends. And as the International Land-based Shark Fishing Association explains on its website, it now awards world records only for sharks that get released after being caught. "I think it's a bunch of bull," says Joey Polk, who maintains that the shark was so exhausted from the hourlong fight that it would have died anyway had they released it. The Polks, who already hold three world records for previous catches, are still pressing their case with the ILSFA and hope to prevail.

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